Made in Kera!

Kera in brief

Kera is a versatile area located in eastern Espoo. At the moment there are some 1,000 inhabitants in the area and by 2050, their number is expected to grow to at least 14,000.

Kera is comprised of different areas so the city centres rhythm of life differs from the traditional model. In Kera, residential and commercial buildings are mixed together which makes the area active and lively throughout different hours of the day. In Kera, the role of public transport, pedestrian and bicycle ways is larger than in other areas of Espoo.

At the moment, the majority of the area of Kera is commercial buildings and Kera’s wide job offering adds to the area’s attractiveness. Large international companies strengthen the versatile and social environment. At the moment, some 9,300 people work in the area in more than 240 companies. The biggest employers at the moment are Nokia Siemens Solutions and Inex Partners. By 2050, the number of jobs is expected to be 10,000.

At the moment, Kera inhabitants get most of their services from Kilo or Leppävaara. However, as the area and its population grows, more local services such as shops, day care centres, schools and recreational services will be established. The Helsinki-Turku railway goes through the area and the new Espoo city rail line will also stop at Kera. The station area will enable a service cluster for the area.

Contact:

Kera development

The main goal of development is to create whole with a distinctive identity and local special features. Development aims at an environment which enables communality, experimenting and activity but also provides calm spaces and versatile recreational areas. Kera aims to support ecologically sustainable living.

In total, 1,150,000 square metres of floor area will be constructed by 2035. 700,000 square metres of floor area will be residential buildings making new homes for 14,000 inhabitants.

Most important development projects

Kera station and its surroundings

The centre of Kera will develop around the railway station and have the most important public and commercial services. Walkways and public outdoor spaces connect the centre to recreation areas. Kera will focus on quality, which will be evident in both buildings and outdoor spaces.

Kutoja area

A mix of residential and commercial buildings will be constructed around the boulevard going through Kutoja area. The main focus is to create an interesting combination of old and new buildings. More public services and recreational activities will also be added to the area.

At the moment, there are many unused office spaces in Kutoja whose renewal is being planned. They could be transformed into living areas, different workshop areas, cultural activity centres or be used by artist studios. The ecological Kutoja area could develop into a flexible craft and experimental art centre supporting the principles of sustainable development and recycling.

Karamalmi Company Campus

Karamalmi is being developed into a city-like campus area that will rely on the activity of technology companies. In addition, the number of residential buildings will be increased to create a city space and to enable service offerings.

Karamalmi will be connected to Kera centre via pedestrian and bicycle roads as well as an express railway. The versatile city structure will support spontaneous campus events, company lunches and negotiations along the beautiful boulevard.

Success story: Nokia

“Kera’s Karaportti area is nowadays not only Nokia’s headquarters but also a business campus for partner companies. There are some 3,500 Nokia employees working in the area and 500 to 600 employees of partnering SMEs and start-ups. Besides office spaces and a modern conference centre, there’s one of the world’s fastest wireless internet connections available for anyone moving on the Nokia campus.

Cloud services and IoT are changing the telecommunication industry. We’re moving from networks of millions of users to networks of billions of devices communicating with each other. This is a great opportunity for Nokia as well since we operate at the centre of it all. However, we also must adapt and renew our own business by partnering more efficiently.

At the moment, there are 10 start-up companies operating on the Nokia campus and our aim is to double their amount by summer 2016. We hold a Pitching Friday once a month, where innovative start-ups can come and pitch their ideas to Nokia experts and executives. The best ideas are developed further and start-ups get to use Nokia’s patents, platforms, networks and expertise.

Nokia also works closely with universities. The campus has its own 5G test network and a radio licence with 20 base stations to simulate a real operator. One of the base stations is located in the Aalto University campus area and the university is free to use it for testing.”

Success story: Reuse Centre

"Helsinki Metropolitan Area Reuse Centre is a non-profit organisation, aiming to reduce the use of natural resources and promote their reuse.

Our largest facility in Kera includes Finland’s largest second-hand goods, sorting centre and several workshops where we fix and maintain goods donated to us.

We found Kera attractive thanks to its central location. Good public traffic connections in particular were important for us, and they are partly the reason for the growing number of visitors to our store.

At the moment, we are particularly excited about Kutomo cluster to be developed in the Kera area for sustainable lifestyle, reuse and crafts.

Kutomo will provide both Finnish and international companies a possibility to be forerunners in building a cluster of sustainable development that can be used as a template for a practical operations model, which can be copied elsewhere."